KTVU ND Rosenthal Treading Rough Waters; Sorry, But KTVU 'Namegate' is Still Industry Talk Nirvana; Rolling Stone Cover

  KTVU News Director, Lee Rosenthal, has lost the trust of a good many of the newsroom, according to insiders at the Oakland Fox affiliate. Growing credibility issues have arisen over the Korean Airliner 'Namegate' imbroglio that has put the station through a difficult week. It doesn't help Rosenthal that his fingerprints were all over the now infamous press release boasting of KTVU's coverage of the crash a mere two days after the tragedy.

Moreover, the 33 year-old Rosenthal's fist-pumping never went over well inside the newsroom and this was well before the fake names la affair with Tori Campbell. Rosenthal might escape this major blunder that has forever tainted KTVU's gold-standard image and reputation but Cox Media, leading a low-key internal investigation of the matter, may not be so forgiving. As a leading station insider told me, "in the end, someone has to go." Indeed, and Rosenthal might have company. Stay tuned.

*Some of you have barked, "Enough of this, (KTVU), already." Really? I have news for you: This is the talk of EVERY TV news operation in the country. From big-market NY City to small-town Iowa! For better or worse, this indelible blunder has been THEE talk of the back room where anchors, reporters, producers, editors; the whole shebang. I know this because several prominent industry people told me. And when people like Stephen Colbert and the late-night comics are referring to this, you know it's reached cultural critical mass. I rest my case.

*My two cents: The Rolling Stone cover with the Boston bomber was intended to sell magazine covers and create controversy and buzz. They got it; that's the good news. Bad news is that Rolling Stone long ago lost its influence and cachet. The only relevant thing over there is Peter Traver's movie reviews.

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